Ismaily Officially Relegated from the Egyptian Premier League After Losing to Wadi Degla

SadaNews - Wadi Degla dashed the hopes of their guest Ismaily to stay in the Egyptian Premier League after defeating them 2-1 on Tuesday in the tenth round of the relegation avoidance group.

Ismaily's tally remained at 19 points in the 14th and last place, officially ending their hopes of staying in the Premier League, and winning in the remaining three matches will not help them.

Ismaily had previously been relegated from the Egyptian Premier League once in the 1957-1958 season, due to the conditions of the 1956 war and the departure of most of its players from the team, but they managed to return quickly to the top league.

The last four clubs in the relegation avoidance group will be relegated to the second division at the end of the competition.

Last season, Ismaily was about to be relegated to the second division before the Egyptian Professional Clubs Association decided to cancel relegation.

Ismaily has won the Egyptian league title three times, the last being in the 2001-2002 season, in addition to two titles in the Egypt Cup. They were the first Egyptian team to win the Africa Champions League title in its previous name, which was the African Cup for Champions Clubs.

Wadi Degla's tally rose to 48 points, leading the relegation avoidance group.

Mahmoud Diasty scored Wadi Degla's opening goal in the 22nd minute after a setup from Mohamed Abdel Rahim, who dribbled and passed from the right side towards the penalty area and then passed the ball to Diasty, who was positioned inside the area and shot the ball into the net.

Diasty doubled the score for Wadi Degla by scoring the second goal in the 62nd minute, capitalizing on a throw-in executed by Ahmed Dahroug, which was launched high towards the penalty area, reaching Omar Adly, who headed it to Diasty, who shot it powerfully into the net.

The referee disallowed a third goal for Wadi Degla in the 25th minute due to offside against Wadi Degla player Ali Hussein.

Ismaily reduced the score in the 73rd minute through Eric Traore, benefiting from a free kick taken from midfield, executed by Mohamed Nasr with a precise cross towards the penalty area, which was met by Traore with a header that found the net.

Wadi Degla missed a chance to score a third goal by the 76th minute after Abdel Rahim passed the ball into Ismaily's penalty area, but goalkeeper Abdel Rahman Mahrous blocked his attempt.

Ismaily's defender Abdullah Mohamed was sent off in the stoppage time of the second half after receiving his second yellow card in the match, leaving Ismaily to finish the stoppage time with ten players.

Source: Reuters